After appeals from animal rights activists, India’s Union Ministry of Shipping has announced that it has banned the export of animals for slaughter from all its seaports.
“There were demands from the public to stop export of livestock for the purpose of slaughter,” Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya told The Indian Express. “There were many complaints and representations from jivdaya premis (those advocating compassion towards all living beings) and a

These days, awareness of plastic waste in our oceans is at an all-time high.
All over social media, well-intentioned campaigns are taking aim at items such as single-use plastic straws and bags, which have been shown to pose a risk to aquatic animals like sea turtles. But if you care about keeping animals in the ocean safe, don’t just look to your drinking straw – look to your dinner plate.
In fact, eating fish does far more harm to our oceans than sipping through a straw ever will.

After hearing that the disgraced live-export operator Wellard Ships is selling the MV Ocean Drover, a ship used to transport live animals, PETA has written to the company with a suggestion for how it could instead put the vessel to good use to help animals: remove it from the market and turn it into a memorial to all the animals who suffered and died on board.Animals Australia’s latest heartbreaking exposé of the live-export trade shows the horrifying conditions endured by sheep se

It’s been a big year so far for the fashion industry’s commitment to compassion.Following pressure from PETA, Annah Stretton has confirmed that she no longer uses fur in any of her products.
More than 7,000 PETA supporters wrote to the New Zealand designer urging her to renounce possum fur, and in 2016, PETA activists took the message straight to the designer’s doorstep when they staged a protest outside her Christchurch store and declared, “Compassion Is Always in Fashi

Rock icon Pink never hesitates to speak up for animals.She’s been a PETA US supporter for more than 15 years, using her name and fame to raise awareness of the abuse animals endure in the skins industry and writing letters to persuade governments, company executives, and even royalty to stop using animals for entertainment.
Here are some of Pink’s most memorable campaigns for animals over the years:Wool Awareness
Before there was widespread awareness of the horrendous suffering endu

Historic events, they say, always occur twice: “Once as tragedy, and again as farce.”The tragedy happened in 2016, when the New South Wales government backed out of its principled pledge to ban the vile greyhound-racing industry. Its original decision followed an investigation that found the widespread use of live piglets, possums, and rabbits to “blood” greyhounds. It also revealed that these highly social and sensitive dogs are sentenced to life in cramped cages or ken

Australian actor Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood knows how strong the bond is between mother and child. The A Place to Call Home star and her newborn, Lucia, posed for PETA to raise awareness of families who are ripped apart by the dairy industry.Just like human mothers, cows carry their babies for approximately nine months. But their birth is no happy occasion. At less than a day old, calves on dairy farms are torn away from their mothers to be shot in the head, bludgeoned to death, or prepared

The front page of The Sunday Telegraph showed a photograph of a farmer holding a young lamb, making a plea for help in the midst of Australia’s drought. It includes this headline: “Les Jones has to shoot his 1200 starving sheep and bury them in a mass grave. He’s not alone….”Farmers are complaining that the big dry means that they have to kill animals prematurely and for no money. There’s no denying that millions of sheep bred into Australia’s woo

After hearing the Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association’s (TSGA) fishy claims of strong council support for its notice of intent to the Environment Protection Authority to build a temporary “mort holding facility” at the Aquaculture Hub just outside Strahan, PETA has written to Mayor Phil Vickers to offer to pay a fee to hang a banner reading, “Fish Stinks. Go Vegan,” on the outside of council buildings.While a giant dead-fish graveyard would create quite a s

We’re in the midst of a fashion revolution. Australians are increasingly concerned with how their clothes are made, and the market is responding. More designers and retailers are putting policies in place to eliminate cruelly produced fur, mohair, angora, wool, down, leather, and silk from garments, saving millions of animals from suffering and being barbarically slaughtered. Now, the questions are, what will the clothes of the future be made of, and what impact will they have on the envi

New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries has released its latest report on the number of animals being used for experiments. It’s not good news.
In 2016, animal experimenters in New Zealand used more than a quarter of a million animals– a 13 per cent jump from the previous year.Yet it’s estimated that this figure represents only around half of all animals suffering in the nation’s facilities. Many more spend their short lives inside a small plastic container i

Natalie Portman, who won an Oscar for her role in Black Swan, stars in a new PETA video spotlighting the legacy of maverick animal advocate Isaac Bashevis Singer, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature 40 years ago.“Isaac Singer grew up in the same part of Poland as my family,” says Portman in the video. “And like them, he fled the horrors of the Holocaust. But the cruelties he witnessed made Singer one of the most powerful writers of the 20thcentury.”
Isaac Bashevis Sing

RSPCA inspectors in New South Wales have uncovered the bodies of nine dead greyhounds buried on the property of registered racing trainer in Western Sydney.
Another 12 dogs who were found starving and sick and were seized from the property. The trainer is being investigated for serious cruelty to animals offences.
“These greyhounds were bred for and then discarded by the racing industry,” the RSPCA said in a statement.This is not the first time the greyhound racing industry has been

As more people become aware that eating meat, eggs, and dairy “products” causes cruelty to animals as well as health and environmental hazards, we’re seeing an increase in the number of athletes who are fuelling up on plants. You’ve probably already heard about some of the many vegan cricketers, bodybuilders, tennis players, and track stars, but now, we’re turning our attention to plant-powered stars on the footy field. No matter which code you follow – rugby

While the Australian Parliament and Senate sit on two billswith the potential to end the cruel live-sheep trade, the Israeli government has given its support to a bill that would phase out the importation of live animals from Australia and Europe for slaughter.
Last year, Australia exported 88,000 live sheep to Israel, and this year, 30,676animals have already been forced to make this gruelling journey, even though Australia’s largest sheep exporter, Emanuel Exports, had its licence suspe

A shark grabbed hold of a woman’s finger while she was attempting to hand-feed the fish from the back of a yacht in Western Australia. Video footage of the incident quickly went viral:Shocking video shows a shark biting the finger of a woman that attempted to feed it in Western Australia, dragging her into the water. She escaped with a fracture and a torn ligament. https://t.co/EWT1bFltDZ pic.twitter.com/C3cK488F2Q
— ABC News (@ABC) July 2, 2018ABC News and other outlets described t

Today, more than 100 activists marched to the beat of drums towards the Plaza Consistorial in Pamplona, Spain, holding signs proclaiming, “Stop the Bloody Bullfights.” The supporters of PETA affiliates and Spanish animal-protection group AnimaNaturalis – half of whom were “runners” and half of whom were “bulls” – shot blood-red flares into the sky to call for an end to the city’s yearly torment and killing of bulls at the San Fermín f

Powerful photos taken by activists from the Spanish group Tras los Muros tell the distressing story of what happens to bulls at the annual San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain, each July. Aussies account for the biggest proportion of foreign runners at the cruel event. The revellers who chase animals through the city’s streets in the morning may not understand how the festival ends for those same animals.
These photographs bring the full horror to light.
WARNI

Did you go vegan after watching Earthlings? Or maybe it was after viewing Forks Over Knives, Cowspiracy, or What the Health. It’s hard to overstate the importance of documentaries in the vegan movement. Now, a new Australian documentary titled Dominion is set to change the hearts, minds, and food choices of millions of caring people all over the world.
Dominion (2018): Official Trailer from Aussie Farms on Vimeo.Directed by Chris Delforce and coproduced by Earthlings director Sh

People in Tasmania and throughout Australia are rightly outraged at the light sentence handed out in the case of a man who was convicted in the Burnie Magistrates Court of beating at least six fairy penguins to death with a stick on Sulphur Creek beach.
The Magistrate described this as a “callous act” on an “easy target”.
“The fractures to their head were consistent with blunt force trauma … the attack continued for at least several minutes.”
Although

After unthinkable cruelty was exposed on its ships, Perth-based livestock export company Emanuel Exports has had its licence suspended by the Australian government.
Last month, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources sent a show-cause notice to the companyafter footage showed sheep crammed together on filthy, hot vessels, struggling to breathe and covered in their own excrement.This suspension is great news for animals suffering at the hands of the live-export industry and hopefully w

After unthinkable cruelty was exposed on its ships, Australia’s biggest sheep exporter Emanuel Exports has had its licence suspended, banning it from sending animals overseas for slaughter.
Last month, the Agriculture Department sent a show-cause notice to the company, following footage showing sheep crammed together on filthy, hot vessels, struggling to breathe and covered in their own excrement.This suspension is great news for animals suffering at the hands of this industry and hopeful

ASOS is the latest major company to drop mohair, following PETA’s exposé of cruelty in South Africa’s mohair industry.
The global online fashion retailer – which sells more than 850 labels as well as its own-brand clothing and accessories – has also gone one step further and confirmed that it’ll ban cashmere, silk, down, and feathers across its entire platform by the end of January 2019.Each year, the mohair, cashmere, down, and silk industries exploit

Yogis across Australia are seizing on a lifestyle trend that can benefit you both on and off the mat. By doing this one thing three times a day, you can transform not only your body but also your mind. And regardless of how long you’ve been practising or how flexible you are, it’s really not too much of a stretch to try – unless you count reaching into the fridge or pantry.Of course, I’m talking about eating vegan. According to Google Trends data for the past 12 months,

What do you get for the baby who’s bound to have everything?
Well, there’s one thing that you can never have too much of – compassion – which is why we’ve just sent the soon-to-be newest member of New Zealand’s first family a cosy faux-sheepskin rug.In our letter congratulating Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner, Clarke Gayford, we explained that while traditional sheepskin rugs might look warm and fuzzy, the way that they’re produced isn&rsq

Even though 90 per cent of experiments on animals fail to lead to treatments for humans, statistics for 2016 (the latest available to the public) show that more than 1 million animals continue to be used in Victorian laboratories.The numbers were revealed in the Victorian government’s annual report. The data showed a staggering increase in the number of genetically modified animals – even though genetic engineering experimentation is an imprecise, inefficient, and unreliable “

In May 2018, PETA released a groundbreaking exposé of cruelty in the mohair industry. Footage captured by PETA Asia at 12 angora goat farms in South Africa shows workers dragging, throwing, and even cutting the throats of fully conscious animals, many of whom cried out in pain and fear.This exposé has sent shockwaves through the mohair industry, and several top international brands have pledged to stop using the cruelly obtained material:After talks with PETA UK, Arcadia Group &nd

Every year in Australia, around half a million calves are discarded as “waste products” of the dairy industry. They’re dragged from their mothers’ sides and bludgeoned with hammers, shot on the farm, or shoved onto trucks bound for the abattoir – all so farmers can sell their mothers’ milk.
One calf, then known only as “#52”, was supposed to be among them.
He was born on a farm in Queensland where all male calves are shot in the head with a shotgu

The jury has returned. The verdict is in.
A new report in the June 2018 issue of the journal Science has confirmed the huge footprint of animal agriculture – it provides just 18 per cent of calories but takes up 83 per cent of farmland. The most comprehensive analysis ever done of the damage farming does to the planet, covering 38,700 farms in 119 countries, found that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75 per cent – an area eq

The cruelty-free future of fashion is here and now. That’s why PETA has written to Lord Mayor Clover More asking that Sydney follow the lead of sister city San Francisco and ban fur sales.San Francisco made history in March when its Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban the cruelly produced material. And it makes sense for a progressive, forward-thinking city like Sydney to do the same.Every year, more than 50 million minks, foxes, chinchillas, and even hamsters are killed for the

Just as companies such as Kmart, BCF and Anglers Warehouse announce plans to drop platypus-killing yabby traps from their stores, the Victorian Government has announced it will outlaw the sale or use of these traps by 2019.
The news comes after almost 10,000 PETA supporters signed our online action.Doug GimseyIn the past year, 14 platypuses have been found dead after having drowned in these traps – otherwise known as opera house nets – in Victoria’s public waters. Because

Research isn’t cheap, and someone has to pay for it. But when the money comes from the industry that supplies the products being researched, there’s a serious conflict of interest.
You’ve probably seen news recently about a new “study” published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition claiming that there is “no risk” to cardiovascular health in eating up to 12 eggs a week. Australian media lapped it up and published stories about it widely &n

Australian backpackers, honeymooners, and other tourists visit Indonesia’s Gili Islands to bathe in the blue seas and relax under palm trees, yet this idyllic resort has a dark, ugly side: more than 500 small, exhausted horses are forced to cart heavy loads of tourists and supplies around the islands every day.
Whipped and Beaten
According to local animal advocates, the horses are badly neglected and often mercilessly beaten as they are literally worked to death.Thirsty and Exhausted
Desp

Companies are pulling yabby traps from their shelves, and it’s great news for platypuses. In the past year, 14 have been found dead after having drowned in such traps in Victoria’s public waters. So far, BCF has removed the traps from its online store, and Anglers Warehouse has followed suit by removing them from its store. And now, Kmart Australia has decided not to restock the products on store shelves and will no longer sell them online.Leaving opera house–style yabby traps

She’s the little pig revered by children all over the world, and as she takes the stage at the Sydney Opera House this week for Peppa Pig’s Surprise, PETA is asking that the venue take pig flesh off the menu.
PETA recently sent a letter to the venue’s kids and performing arts representative, urging her to honour the mischievous little pig by taking animals off the Opera Bar menu during the show’s run – or even better, for good.
As an added incentive, PETA offe

He’s best known for his bowling, but Adam Zampa has gone to bat for animals in a new PETA campaign.
His face will appear on buses across Adelaide with the message “Love them. Don’t eat them” to remind everyone that we are all animals who share this planet and who want to avoid pain and experience happiness.In a video interview with PETA, Zampa reveals that his motivation to go vegan was simple:
“I just don’t like exploiting animals. I think about th

Poppy and Alvin should have spent their days going for walks, sniffing around trees, chasing tennis balls, rolling in the grass, napping in cosy beds, and doing all the other things that dogs love. Instead, the two beagles were used as laboratory equipment in experiments for topical skin treatments. By the time they were surrendered to a rescue group, they were overweight (likely from being deprived of exercise), suffering from numerous skin problems, and terrified of being touched.
Thankfully,

After hearing from PETA and the Victorian Alliance for Platypus-Safe Yabby Traps, retail chain BCF has pulled cruel “opera house” traps from its online store.
In the past year, 14 platypuses have been found dead after having drowned in such traps – which are intended for crustaceans – in Victoria’s public waters. It’s estimated that several hundred more have died and remain unfound because of the”set-and-forget”nature of the traps. Five platypuses

To support the development of non-animal testing strategies, the PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. (the Consortium) has launched an award for one early-career scientist to attend the 20th International Congress on In Vitro Toxicology (ESTIV2018). The Consortium will cover the winner’s conference registration and provide a contribution towards travel and accommodation costs. Postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and new researchers who intend to pursue a

It might sound unlikely, but some of the most moving and influential stories from the animal rights movement in our region come from individuals who have seen first-hand and been a part of the systematic abuse of animals on farms and at abattoirs.
Here are some stories of personal journeys from working in animal agriculture to going vegan for animals._____________________________________________________________________________Jess Strathdee – Dairy Farm Owner/Operator
It didn’

A New South Wales petting zoo that provides baby goats for “goat yoga” events is facing 10 cruelty charges after some of its animals became dehydrated and malnourished and developed diarrhoea and infections. According to The Daily Telegraph, one goat was so emaciated and distressed that he or she had to be euthanised. But this type of abuse is only one of the reasons why we’re not embracing the goat yoga “trend”.Animals at a mobile petting zoo were allegedly found

The recent release of PETA’s Australian dairy farm exposé uncovered barbaric abuse to calves and adult cows, but the horror doesn’t stop there: the investigation also revealed that effluent – faeces and urine – from the farm in New South Wales was repeatedly contaminating a nearby river.After noticing that the effluent was overflowing, the eyewitness questioned farm workers regarding where it goes.
“[I]t goes down in the river,” the eyewitness was told

Chris Hemsworth’s physique might look like it’s sculpted by the gods in his new film, Thor: Ragnarok, but in reality, the God of Thunder was powered by plants.
Hemsworth’s personal trainer, Luke Zocchi, recently told Today Extra that “Thor” went vegan during filming. “That was a big experiment we tried was that if he could keep the muscle eating vegan,” said Zocchi.
The results?A post shared by Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) on Mar 11, 2017 at 12:30a

On the eve of the long Easter weekend, PETA is reminding people in Melbourne to choose compassion with two new thought-provoking billboards.
One sign features the image of an elegant fish, alongside the words “I’m ME, Not MEAT”, strategically placed to encourage residents of the seaside town not to eat fish on Good Friday. Meanwhile, the face of a beautiful cow asks residents in Cheltenham to go vegan.More than 500 million land animals alone are killed for their flesh in

After a shocking PETA Asia exposé showed elephants being beaten for Anantara Resort’s 2018 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in Thailand, Australian sponsor Sunraysia has informed PETA that it will no longer support the event.In a letter to PETA, Sunraysia CEO Anthony Davie stated:
We are distressed by the footage and strongly condemn the mistreatment of elephants that it shows. … Now that you have brought this matter to our attention, we will be discontinuing our sp

It’s been almost two years since the government announced its plan to prohibit cruel tests on animals for cosmetics products, and now, instead of delivering this life-saving legislation this year as promised, it has pushed it back another year.“Cosmetics” in Australia include all make-up and skin- and hair-care products, as well as things like toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, perfume, and sunscreen.
Amid the election hype in 2016, the government announced that it would ban cosmeti